"What I was trying to say is make a joke," he said. "It was 30 mph winds, golf is hard. And if Bubba Watson tried to write an article, that would be very hard. And what I was saying to the reporter is, golf is hard. So if he tried to play golf, it would be very tough. Writing an article is a little easier for him than it is for me. It was a joke. I love all journalists. Obviously I made a bad joke just like I played bad golf this week."

Watson won this major in 2012 and 2014 but has struggled here the past three years. He finished 38th while trying to defend his title in 2015, then 37th a year ago. Watson never got on track this time, shooting 74-78.

On Friday, he opened with five bogeys on his first six holes and could not recover. Watson had a brief flourish, with consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes. Yet three more bogeys on the back nine appeared to have sealed his fate.

Watson missed the cut for the first time in nine career Masters appearances.